Foods with a Purpose

Just like millions of men, you’ve read plenty of articles on what foods are good for your diet. There are certain foods that are geared specifically towards body building and muscle mass, but did you know that other foods can help keep you healthy in other ways such as higher energy levels, sex enhancers, memory enhancers, foods that are good for your heart and vision, and food that help reduce stress? Why should you just work on one part of your body? Below are some great tips on foods that will help for a well-rounded healthy body.

Muscle Foods

– Fortified Eggs: As you know, eggs are a great form of protein, which is important for building muscle mass, but have you heard about fortified eggs? The difference is in the diet of the chickens. For fortified eggs, they feed them flaxseeds and vitamin E, which increases the content of omega-3 and vitamin E in eggs. In fact, there is six times more omega-3 and eight times more vitamin E content in fortified eggs than in regular eggs.

– Mollusks: Mollusks are a great source of protein, are low in fat, and high in minerals such as vitamin B12, which helps to deliver oxygen through your blood to your working muscles.

Salmon: Salmon is a great source of omega-3 and fatty acids, which both help with the building of muscle mass.
– Nuts: Not only are nuts a great source of protein, but they also contain many nutrients that are great for muscles such as fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, copper, antioxidants, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
– Legumes: Legumes are a great source of protein as well as fiber, which helps to stabilize your blood sugar and energy level.

Whole grains: Foods such as oatmeal, brown rice, and barley are very rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

– Tomatoes and tomato products: For some reason, when tomato products are heated up, they produce more antioxidants. So, tomato-based items such as chili and spaghetti sauce are a great source of antioxidants.

– Cruciferous vegetables: Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. They’re high in fiber and vitamin C and low in calories, so they’re a great food source for building muscle.

Energy Foods

Some of the foods already are great for energy such as whole grains and nuts because of the protein and antioxidants content, which makes sense because energy and muscle building go hand in hand. Those aforementioned foods are important to note, but they won’t be relisted in this section.

Berries: Blueberries, blackberries, and other berries are great for energy due to their high content of vitamins and fiber.

– Citrus fruits: Citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits are not only a great source of vitamin C, but also contain flavonoids. Flavonoids are nutrients in certain foods that help with lowering cholesterol, coagulating your blood, and boost the effects of vitamin C.

– Lean proteins: Meats such as steak, chicken, pork tenderloin, and turkey along with milk an cheese are good sources of protein and also are high in zinc content, which boosts your immune system. Be careful not to choose cuts of meat with a lot of fat or be sure to trim the fat before preparing your meat.

Tea: Teas contain polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants. You can drink tea in moderation, but you shouldn’t be too terribly concerned with the caffeine content in that tea contains half as much caffeine as coffee.
– Olive oil: Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats that are said to decrease bad cholesterol levels and increase good cholesterol. Also, olive oil is rich in vitamin E and antioxidants. You’re better off with the extra virgin olive oil as it contains more vitamin E and antioxidants. Olive oil is a great alternative to unhealthy fats such as butter.

Memory Foods

Great memory foods usually consist of certain fruits and vegetables. These foods mainly contain anthocyanin, which is a memory enhancing nutrient found in some foods, and/or quercetin, which is an antioxidant that has been known to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Also, some vegetables are high in folic acid, which also has been known to help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

– Fruits good for memory: Blueberries, strawberries, and cherries contain anthocyanin while apples contain quercetin. The quercetin found in apples is mainly in the skin of the apple, so make sure that you don’t peel your apple. Red, purple, and black grapes are also great memory foods as they contain both anthocyanin and quercetin.

– Vegetables god for memory: Onions contain quercetin as does broccoli, but broccoli is also high in folic acids. Spinach is a wonderful memory food that’s very rich in folic acids. Beets not only have folic acids, but also contain anthocyanin. Eggplants are also a source that contains anthocyanin, but eggplants also contain another antioxidant called nasunin. This antioxidant protects the lipids around your brain sell membrane.

Raw oysters: Raw oysters are probably the best known sex food for men. The reason it’s a great sex food is because it’s high in zinc, which increases testosterone and sperm levels.

– Celery: Celery may not sound as if it’s an appealing sex food, but celery contains androsterone, which is the hormone in men that give off an arousing scent to women. Though celery may not increase your sex drive, it sure can attract the ladies to you.

– Bananas: Bananas are high in potassium and vitamin B, which are great for energy and stamina.

Avocados: Avocados are high in folic acid and vitamin B6, which both increase the production of male hormones.

– Figs: Due to the amino acids in figs, they increase your sex drive and improve physical stamina.

– Eggs: Eggs are rich in vitamins B5 and B6, which help to balance hormone and stress levels.

– Garlic: Make sure you have breath mints ready, but garlic contains a nutrient called allicin, which helps to increase blood flow, so to sum it up, garlic may help with longevity.

Heart Foods

Herbs: As we’ve all heard before, if you’re interested in heart health, then the first thing you should do is hide your salt shaker. There are plenty of herbs such as chives, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, oregano, and lavender that you can use to enhance the flavor of your foods instead of salt. This will drastically reduce your sodium level and your risk for hypertension, which can essentially cause heart disease.

– Garlic: Garlic is a wonderful way to lower cholesterol. It also helps to prevent arteries from getting clogged or hardening.

– Salmon: Salmon contains a lot of omega-3 acids, which reduces inflammation. This means that it will decrease the chance of your arteries swelling and causing a narrower opening.

– Allium Vegetables: Vegetables such as onions, scallions, shallots, garlic, and chives are rich in sulfur, which produces gluthathione, an antioxidant good for eyes. Gluthathione increases circulation, which is helps, the blood flow to the small blood vessels in the eye.

– Yellow, orange, and leafy green vegetables: I’m sure you’ve always heard that eating carrots is good for your vision. It’s actually true, as is squash and other yellow and oranges vegetables. Also, leafy greens are good, kale being at the top of the list. All of these vegetables contain quercetin, an antioxidant that helps with the blood flow.

Legumes: Legumes are high in magnesium, which helps relax veins and arteries and in turn increases blood flow.

– Apricots: Apricots contain magnesium, which is a nutrient that helps relive stress. However, only have apricots in moderation as they are also high in sugar and too many may be counterproductive.

– Green vegetables and bananas: I know green vegetables and bananas don’t sound like they should be grouped together, but they do have something very important in common. These foods are very high in potassium, which has been known to calm nerves and reduce anxiety.

– Poultry: Poultry such as chicken or turkey contain L-Tryptophan, which is an amino acid that prompts the release of serotonin, a chemical in the brain that makes you feel relaxed, happy, and generally good.
As you can see, there are many choices to a healthier you and you don’t have to compromise taste, as there is such a variety that everyone should be able to find foods that they like and can promote good health. There may be certain areas that you’d like to concentrate on more than others, but at least you can see the foods that help to a well-rounded health. Also, you should be able to see that foods such as blueberries are listed in more than one area as a healthy food. So, you can provide your body with healthy nutrients in more than one area in many cases.